For many nonprofits, PayPal is the default. It’s familiar. Trusted. “Good enough.”
But what if that familiarity is costing your mission hundreds—even thousands—every month?
These eight organizations all started on PayPal. Then they ran the numbers, saw the impact of donation fees, and made a change.
Here’s what they gained by switching to Zeffy—the only 100% free fundraising platform built for nonprofits.
1. The Dearborn Educational Foundation
- Before Zeffy: Between their golf tournament, Mardi Gras celebration, Green Tie Dinner, and Spring Bazaar—all of which help them support innovative educational practices in Dearborn, Michigan—the Foundation was constantly juggling event logistics. They used PayPal to raise funds for these major events, managing everything from ticket sales to raffle systems.
- The Struggle: The Dearborn Educational Foundation used PayPal to raise millions, but the fees were monstrous. Additionally, since PayPal didn't offer many integrations, the Foundation had to utilize other platforms for tasks such as ticketing and raffles, which added more obstacles and fees for each event.
- Why They Switched: Foundation leader Chastity Townsend turned to Google, hoping someone, somewhere, had designed an actually free fundraising platform. That’s when she found Zeffy.
- The Results: Since using Zeffy, the foundation has raised $56,231 and saved $2,812 in fees—money that has gone directly back to supporting students and teachers instead of being absorbed by processing costs.
"We are able to give 100% of funds raised back out as well as cut back on administrative duties. Zeffy has helped with using Excel to keep track of registrations for events and allows less data entry into QuickBooks." —Chastity Townsend, Executive Director
2. Pan American Medical Association
- Before Zeffy: Pan American Medical Association (PAMA) began fundraising through PayPal and GoFundMe to support their mission of providing medical care and supplies to underserved communities.
- The Struggle: Every dollar in PayPal and GoFundMe fees cut into the number of medical supplies and trainings PAMA could provide to underserved communities. The fees also raised donors' eyebrows—when people see that a high percentage of their contributions is whittled away by fees, those high fees can erode donor trust.
- Why They Switched: The team at PAMA recognized that a single dollar lost meant fewer life-saving medical supplies would reach communities in need.
- The Results: PAMA raised $10,399 through Zeffy and saved $520 in processing fees—funds that went directly toward their recent campaign delivering $10,000 worth of painkillers to address medication shortages in Cuba.
“Zeffy’s cost-effective platform empowered us to turn limited resources into tangible results, making meaningful strides in addressing healthcare disparities on a global scale.” — Uriel Ramirez, PAMA
💸 How much could your nonprofit save? Every dollar PAMA saved went directly to life-saving medical supplies. Calculate your potential savings →
3. True Blue 1881
- Before Zeffy: True Blue—a nonprofit focused on empowering young people to attend college—used a variety of payment platforms, including PayPal, Eventbrite, Network for Good, CashApp, and Venmo for collecting donations.
- The Struggle: Administrative complexity quickly became an issue, as managing donations and event ticketing across multiple platforms required significant time and effort. However, the biggest hurdle was the fees, which reduced the funds available to support students.
- Why They Switched: Founder Tiombé O’Rourke always felt uneasy about asking donors to cover fees on top of their generous gifts. Once they found Zeffy—a completely fee-free platform for fundraising and event management—they switched.
- The Results: True Blue 1881 raised $48,322 and saved $2,416 in their first year—savings that immediately translated into rent payments, student meals, and tuition assistance. The platform also automated receipts and streamlined campaign creation, recovering countless staff hours.
“With these savings, we can pay rent, feed students, and cover outstanding balances. Every bit of savings goes straight to supporting our students.” —Tiombé O’Rourke
4. Autism Meets Faith
- Before Zeffy: The team at Autism Meets Faith—an organization that supports autistic children and their families—used PayPal for fundraising.
- The Struggle: It wasn't just the unexpected fees that caused issues. Payouts from these platforms also took much longer than expected and were costly. Plus, PayPal's inability to embed fundraising forms on their website meant their first Giving Tuesday raised only $3,000.
- Why They Switched: A Google search led them to Zeffy. At first they wondered if it came with a catch; 100% free seemed just too good to be true. But when they learned Zeffy was created specifically to help nonprofits like theirs, they decided to give it a go.
- The Results: Autism Meets Faith raised $39,034 through Zeffy and saved $1,952 in processing fees—money that expanded their programs and deepened their impact for children and families navigating autism.
"By eliminating fees, Zeffy has allowed us to maximize every donation and focus on expanding our programs. It's opened new revenue streams and empowered us to make an even bigger impact for the children and families we serve."—Holly Odogwu, Founder & CEO
🤔 Still thinking PayPal is really the best choice? These organizations thought so too—until they ran the numbers side by side. Compare Zeffy vs PayPal →
5. Si Se Puede Foundation
- Before Zeffy: The Si Se Puede Foundation had been using PayPal for years to fund their STEM education programs and robotics competitions.
- The Struggle: PayPal fees were costing them $400-500 monthly—money that could have covered their program costs or gone directly to students. The platform's poor interface and tracking also made donor management difficult, while supporters grew frustrated as processing costs diminished their contributions.
- Why They Switched: Foundation leader Faridodin "Fredi" Lajvardi couldn't justify losing hundreds of dollars monthly to fees when those same funds could directly impact students' educational opportunities. After researching alternatives, he found Zeffy's fee-free approach aligned perfectly with their mission to maximize educational resources.
- The Results: The foundation raised $122,730 through Zeffy and saved $6,136 in processing fees—enough to maintain and expand its robust STEM education programs.
“[Zeffy is] easy to use and is very effective. Our organization has greatly benefited from using Zeffy. It makes it more likely for donors to donate because they know how much of their donation actually gets to the organization."— Faridodin "Fredi" Lajvardi, Si Se Puede Foundation leader
6. Mission Link International
- Before Zeffy: Mission Link International feeds widows and orphans worldwide, but their fundraising platform was as basic as it gets. PayPal essentially just allowed them to receive donations—nothing more.
- The Struggle: In international relief work, where every dollar feeds hungry people, PayPal's processing costs weren't just administrative expenses—they literally took food out of the mouths of widows and orphans who desperately needed help.
- Why They Switched: Leader Todd Childers researched extensively, evaluating half a dozen platforms that offered contemporary fundraising features beyond simple money transfers. He even considered building custom solutions before discovering Zeffy's comprehensive approach to nonprofit fundraising.
- The Results: Mission Link International raised $53,938 and saved $2,969 in fees—money that went directly toward feeding vulnerable populations instead of processing costs.
"Unlike PayPal, Zeffy allows the creation of interactive, detailed forms for numerous campaigns. We can embed them on our website's giving page or as Pop-Up forms."—Todd Childers, Mission Link International Leader
💸 Ready to stop losing money to processing fees? Like Mission Link, you could be feeding more people instead of funding payment processors. See what you could save →
7. The Sacred Portion Children's Outreach
- Before Zeffy: Sacred Portion Children's Outreach—a nonprofit that supports the care and adoption of orphaned children—collected monthly sponsorships and adoption fees through PayPal, but the platform was undermining their mission in multiple ways.
- The Struggle: PayPal fees weren't just reducing their budget—they were demoralizing the team. Every processing fee represented money taken away from vulnerable children who needed it most. Plus, the platform was complex and lacking essential fundraising features, while customer support was nearly impossible to reach when problems arose.
- Why They Switched: Leader Brynne Spicer wanted to ensure the full value of their fundraising efforts reached the children they served. She invested valuable time researching fundraising platforms, determined to find a solution that honored both their donors' generosity and their mission to help children. That’s when she found Zeffy.
- The Results: Sacred Portion raised an impressive $187,000 through Zeffy and saved $9,350 in processing fees—their largest fee savings of any organization on this list.
"No more fees, easier to manage, more features, and we loved that we could send a fun and personalized form to our donors who love to know the story behind what we're doing."— Brynne Spicer, Sacred Portion Children's Outreach Leader
8. Hope Always Foundation
- Before Zeffy: Hope Always Foundation, an organization that gives personalized tablets to kids facing long hospital stays, started using PayPal simply because their website host, GoDaddy, suggested it.
- The Struggle: PayPal's high fees and mandatory minimum donation requirements made operations difficult for this small nonprofit.
- Why They Switched: When founder Bobby Kesselman saw a $700 fee, he knew they needed a different approach. For a small nonprofit, losing that much money to processing costs wasn't just inefficient, it was unsustainable.
- The Results: Hope Always Foundation raised $6,950 through Zeffy and saved $347 in fees, proving that even smaller organizations can benefit significantly from eliminating processing costs.
"I honestly shout about Zeffy from the rooftops to other nonprofits, because they're literally losing money going anywhere else. I can't express the pleasure it's been to work with a financial platform that doesn't view you as an 'account'.” — Bobby Kesselman, Hope Always Foundation Foundrer
Still Using PayPal? You Might Be Losing More Than Just Money
These eight organizations discovered what thousands of nonprofits already know: processing fees aren't just a line item on your budget—they're meals not served, students not supported, and families not helped.
From Dearborn Education Foundation's $2,812 in saved fees funding more student programs, to Sacred Portion's $9,350 going directly to vulnerable children, the pattern is clear. Every dollar lost to processing fees is a dollar stolen from your mission.
The nonprofits in these stories aren't special. They're not tech-savvy or particularly business-minded. They're organizations just like yours that realized PayPal's familiarity was costing them too much. They made a simple switch to Zeffy—the only 100% free fundraising platform built specifically for nonprofits—and immediately started directing more resources toward their actual work.
